


under starless skies we are lost

by sparxwrites



Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Knight of Fangs, Other, Unresolved Emotional Tension, mentions of injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-30
Updated: 2015-04-30
Packaged: 2018-03-26 12:32:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3851089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparxwrites/pseuds/sparxwrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“<i>Settle down, squire,</i>” said Lying, softly, eyes heavy-lidded, pupils huge in the low light. Fuzz was a silhouette against the dying sun, head turned to the outside world and tail curled around their front paws. Lying could hear the too-fast beat of their heart even over the rain, though from exertion or anxiety he couldn’t be sure. “<i>It’s getting dark.</i>”</p><p>(In which Fuzz and Lying stumble out of a fight they barely won, and into a cave.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	under starless skies we are lost

**Author's Note:**

> this started as one thing, and ended up as something very different. title from f+tm’s new song, “[ship to wreck](http://listenonrepeat.com/watch/?v=B9v8jLBrvug#Florence_%2B_The_Machine_-_Ship_To_Wreck)”, which is, somehow, both irrelevant and weirdly relevant. also, i carried a dog around my kitchen for like five minutes in the process of researching this fic - the dog was not pleased, and my family looked at me weirdly, i hope you all appreciate my sacrifices.

“ _This is very undignified._ ” The words left Lying's mouth as a soft growl, lips curling back from sharp teeth in distaste. A muzzle and a wolf's tongue were good for many things, but human words were not among them – he could only be reluctantly grateful that Fuzz could understand his whines and barks whilst still human. Hooking his head a little more firmly over his squire’s shoulder, he watched the ground fall away behind them at entirely too slow a pace, huffing out quiet whines that stirred Fuzz's hair with their soft puffs of air.

Unsuccessfully muffling a sigh, Fuzz shifted the mass of fur in their arms in an attempt to get a better grip. “Yes, milord,” they agreed, voice carefully neutral, trying not to think about the low fires starting in their arms, the sharp spike of pain between their shoulder blades that ran down the length of their spine. For something that looked like a mid-sized dog, Lying’s wolf form was deceptively heavy, and the awkward shape of it made getting a decent grip unbearably difficult.

Lying's nose wrinkled at the assault of scents that unfamiliar territory brought – foliage and greenery and flowers all around, a herd of cows somewhere upwind, chickens in the undergrowth, the rank stench of the undead coming from the north. He curled as best he could against Fuzz’s chest, jaw clenched in a silent snarl against the way his leg was jarred by every movement. “ _Put me down,_ ” he demanded, through gritted teeth. “ _This is_ ridiculous. _I am perfectly capable of walking_.”

“Of course you are, milord.” Carefully and completely ignoring him, Fuzz picked their way over a fallen log in their path, painfully aware of how unbalanced they were with Lying’s weight in their arms. Top heavy, and with parts of Lying sticking out past the reach of their torso, their ability to easily navigate obstacles was somewhat compromised, and even stepping over objects became an exercise in caution.

Lying’s eyes narrowed, something like a growl building in his chest. The noise vibrated against Fuzz’s ribs, a low thrum they felt in their lungs, in the pit of their stomach. “ _Are you mocking me, squire_?” he asked, as they finally made it over the log and onto blessedly flat ground without falling over.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, milord,” said Fuzz, blandly, unable to help the corner of their mouth quirking up as Lying blew warm air against the side of their neck with an indignant huff.

They adjusted their grip yet again as the muscles in their arms protested loudly, careful not to catch his tail or the deep gash opened across one leg as they shifted the hand under his hindquarters. The arm around his midsection tightened a little as they did so, trying to stop him slipping to one side or the other and overbalancing the pair of them completely. If they both ended up in the dirt, Fuzz wasn’t entirely sure they’d have the energy to pick him back up.

Uncomfortably aware of the sun dipping towards the horizon and their steadily fading ability to carry Lying yet another step further, Fuzz took to looking for a place to rest. They easily tuned out Lying’s grumbling and whining in their ear, a skill honed through long practice, instead scanning their surroundings and hoping against hope for some sort of hut. Even an abandoned mineshaft would do, or a ruined castle, anything that they could make their home in for the night.

Luck was not entirely with them. There was no hut, but there was a cave – a shallow, scraped-out hole in the side of something that could generously be called a mountain, protected by a small overhang. It wasn’t exactly luxury, but it was a place for the night, protection from the elements and the creatures of the dark, and Fuzz stumbled gratefully toward it with aching arms.

The inside of the cave was faintly dusty, but sheltered from the wind. More importantly, it held the promise of rest, and a respite from Lying’s weight in their arms – a burden they bore gladly, but a burden nonetheless. “We can settle here for the night,” they said, exhaustion thick in their voice as they set Lying down as gently as they could manage on the bare stone. Rock was hardly the most comfortable sleeping surface, but it was clean, dry, and relatively smooth, so it would do. They’d both slept on worse. “Give your leg some time to heal.”

Lying stretched out as soon as he was released, carefully, unable to suppress a quiet yelp when his injured leg was jostled by the movement. “ _Are you telling me what to do, squire?_ ” he asked, eyes faintly narrowed as he curled protectively in on himself to lick at the red gash across his hind leg. The bleeding had largely stopped, in part thanks to Fuzz’s ever-growing skill with a wand, but crimson blood was still smeared across the white-grey fur around the wound, clotting in unsightly clumps.

“Of _course_ not, milord.” Fuzz couldn’t quite keep out the tired sarcasm that edged into their words, despite the fact that Lying’s expression was soft, teasing. Reaching up to the ceiling to try and stretch the ache out of their arms, they winced when something in their spine ground and then clicked, lips twisting in discomfort. “I wouldn’t dare presume to be so bold.”

Rolling their eyes – back carefully turned to Lying, though, not willing to risk a warning growl and a snap at their heels – they reached up and curled a hand around the moon amulet that hung around their neck. The points of the crescent moon dug dents into their palm as they mouthed their way through _one, two, three_ , their form wavering and running like an oil painting in the rain beginning to fall just outside the mouth of the cave.

Between one breath and the next they slipped from human to wolf, paws and fur and parted jaws amidst the scattered pile of their armour on the floor. New skin settled over changed bones like an old coat, and Fuzz stretched luxuriously with the velvet-softness of it, paws pushed out in front and spine arched to raise their hindquarters up.

Lying scoffed quietly, distaste evident in the wrinkle of his muzzle. “ _Unnatural_ ,” he said, coolly, licking around his mouth to try and clear the coppery taste of blood that lay thick on his tongue. Watching the transformation process made his eyes ache, the unpleasant magic it left behind leaving him with a distinct sense of unease that set his fur on end.

“ _This whole curse is unnatural_ ,” retorted Fuzz, the noises of their words a low, rolling rumble in their chest. “ _I’m making the best of it that I can,_ milord _._ ” The title came out with an edge, half-bared teeth and peeled-back lips, before they forced their hackles down and exhaled, tucking their tail between their legs.

Diplomatically ignoring the biting and distinctly disrespectful tone to the words, Lying sighed, setting his head atop his paws. The excitements of the day had left him tired, aching, and the steady throb of his leg seemed to drain what little energy he had left with every heartbeat. “ _True_ ,” he murmured, jaws opening wide with a whining yawn, lips peeling back from serrated teeth to reveal the dark pink of his tongue and throat before his mouth closed with a click. “ _Very true._ ”

Huffing softly, Fuzz nudged their armour off to one side of the cave with their nose, clearing a little more space and ensuring the damp couldn’t reach. Most of it was battered and dented, some parts probably damaged beyond repair – but it was all they had between the two of them, and Fuzz was reluctant to let its condition worsen.

Beyond the mouth of the cave, the rain was coming down in earnest as the sun wavered on the horizon, heavy droplets falling faster and faster until the darkening sky seemed full of sheets of water. The drumming of it was loud enough to blot out other noise, the damp covering everything until the only scents in their scant few meters of warmth and dryness were storm clouds and rock and blood.

“ _Settle down, squire_ ,” said Lying, softly, eyes heavy-lidded, pupils huge in the low light. Fuzz was a silhouette against the dying sun, head turned to the outside world and tail curled around their front paws. Lying could hear the too-fast beat of their heart even over the rain, though from exertion or anxiety he couldn’t be sure. “ _It’s getting dark_.”

Fuzz tore their gaze away from the greying world, from the water like a curtain and the swollen clouds obscuring the glitter of the emerging night sky. They looked over their shoulder at Lying, blinking slowly in the growing darkness. “ _It is_ ,” they agreed, after a long moment, dipping their head. Leaning forward to stretch once more, they whined quietly, reluctantly regaining their feet and crossing the scant space separating the two of them.

Pacing a small circle on the cave floor, they settled down against Lying’s side, chin resting on his shoulder. The smell of blood was stronger, here, thick copper in their nose – but so was the smell of Lying’s fur, a soft, familiar warmth that was more comforting than they would ever admit.

Lying raised his head from his paws to press his nose against the space behind Fuzz’s ear, nudging against their head until they relaxed against him, the thump of their heart slowing in their chest where it was pressed against his leg. “ _Sleep_ ,” he said, licking over the patch of fur he’d mussed until it flattened, settling his head back down on his paws with a small yawn.

“ _You sleep_ ,” replied Fuzz, huffing out a soft sigh that ruffled the fur of Lying’s shoulder around their muzzle. “ _You’re the one with a wound to heal_.” The scent of blood was in their nostrils again the moment they thought about it, heavy enough they could near taste it in the back of their throat – heavy enough their lip curled up to bare clenched teeth, something dark shining in liquid eyes at the mere memory of the day’s violence.

“ _You’re telling me what to do again_ ,” murmured Lying, eyes already closed, breathing slowed until the rise and fall of his ribs was more tectonic movement than something biological. His breath stirred Fuzz’s fur with every exhale, a warm draft that didn’t seem to bother them in the slightest.

The beat of his heart and the soft rasp of his breathing so close to Fuzz’s ear was white noise, quiet and soothing, more than enough to lull the silent anger out of them and coax their eyes to tired slits – mouth half-open as they finally gave into the exhaustion, tension seeping out of aching muscles and bruised skin. “ _Mmm_ ,” they murmured in sleepy agreement, the sound more of a contented whine than an actual word, eyes finally slipping fully closed with the steady reassurance of Lying’s heartbeat slow in their ears. “ _Yeah._ _So I am_.”


End file.
